


The forest

by oyechi



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: BaekYeol - Freeform, Bittersweet Ending, ChanBaek - Freeform, Fantasy, How Do I Tag, M/M, Mystery, Romance, Supernatural Elements, Suspense, Twisted and Fluffy Feelings, eh
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-15
Updated: 2015-12-14
Packaged: 2018-05-06 20:15:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5429348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oyechi/pseuds/oyechi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The forest is shady as fuck and Byun Baekhyun can't help but be curious. </p>
<p>As the saying goes, curiosity killed the cat.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Chanyeol won't appear immediately, but patience. 
> 
> This won't be too long either. Like... 15 chapters or something like that. 
> 
> It depends, I guess. 
> 
> For now, enjoy! C:

**Byun Baekhyun** stumbled upon into a small village by coincidence. He was originally from a desert like place called Nuhes, a dried up land with no plants or animals around. The only thing living there were a few people like him and nothing else. It’s still a mystery to him how did his family even manage to survive so long in that place with no source of food or water around. A few days earlier, maybe a week (he wasn’t sure), he had it with that place. He wanted to explore the land farther from there and see for himself what’s out there. His parents were kind and understanding as always, and they let him go with ease. After all, they had raised a strong son.

Mr. Byun had given him a map of the area. It helped him for the first few days, and he had managed to get around some villages thanks to it. However, the wind was strong during those days. He had been careless about the map and it flew away far away from his reach. The people in the villages were sympathetic enough, and gave him directions and even food for his travels. Baekhyun could never express properly his gratitude towards the kind villagers so he set forward to his next destination… which was wherever he stumbled upon next.

The path to the next village or what the villagers had explained to him was confusing. Especially in the dark. Baekhyun knew he had to sleep the night but for some odd reason, he wanted to risk things a little bit. He wasn’t really sure what drove him to think like that, but he still went with it. Without realizing it, he entered a forest and slipped on a wet vine. He only came to realize what was happening when he opened up again his eyes, and before him was the small village he was at the moment.

Baekhyun looked up the sign the village had, and it was all beaten up and old that he couldn’t really make out the name of the village. He got up again on his two legs and cleaned himself so he could look more proper to the villagers. Once he deemed he was okay, he grabbed his bag, threw it over his shoulder and began walking to the village.

He could feel people’s stare at him, and it didn’t surprise him. It was rare for an outsider to visit during the night anywhere, even in Nuhes. That, and he must look like he got out of Hell which he sort of did anyways. Baekhyun smiled a little and began looking around the village since he never really got a good look of it from outside.

All of the houses were small and made out of wood. They all had the same design of houses except for the big house in the center. For one thing, it was taller than all the others and it appeared to have a two floor plan. The only thing they had in common was the wood. It didn’t surprise him because the village was surrounded by what looked like a forest. The villagers must use the wood as a resource. The terrain was wet and muddy probably because it rained recently. There were many families together outside, laughing and talking in hushed murmurs when he passed. They all looked at him from head to toe, and continued murmuring silently.

The big house in the center must be where the chief lives, Baekhyun reasons. He then heads over there so he could ask if he could stay for a couple of days in the village. However, he is stopped by walking further to the big house when someone grabs his wrist, making him unable to walk further. Baekhyun looked over his shoulder to see a boy with dark skin and a scowl on his face. “How did you manage to come here?” the boy asked accusingly.

The outsider made a face at the question. Was this boy crazy or was it just him? “What do you mean how? How else did I come here?” Baekhyun spoke out his thoughts and struggled to get out of the boy’s hold.

They eyed each other from up to down, daring one another to look away. He still wasn’t sure what the rude boy had meant with his weird question, but he just wanted to teach him some lessons for being so  _welcoming_  to him. A crowd started to surround them and Baekhyun had successfully managed to get out of the boy’s hold. He rubbed his red and somewhat hurt wrist, and winced when the pain started to throb a little. The tension between them only broke when a villager from the crowd came up and slapped the boy’s shoulder. “Kai! Stop that! That’s not a way to greet someone!” the villager spoke up.

The boy, Kai, glared at the other. “You heard him! He came from the forest!”

“Even so! Leave the questions for later.” The villager then looked at Baekhyun apologetically. “I’m sorry for him. He can be rude sometimes.”

“Don’t worry about it.” The outsider said curtly.

“Let’s go to my house for now, okay?” The outsider didn’t really have a choice but to follow the pair of males, instead of going where he originally was going to.

The house of the pair of males, as expected, wasn’t far away at all. In fact, it was within a few feet from where the scene took place. Because the village was small, everything was near to each other. The inside of the house was warm and inviting with the warm fire it had inside and the big welcome sign it had outside. Baekhyun hugged himself, suddenly feeling cold and took small steps over where the fire was. He didn’t want to seem rude to the male that had so kindly invited him over, after all. The outsider heard the said male laughing a little and looked over. “I’m sorry, you must be cold. I’ll bring you something warm to wear.”

Before Baekhyun protested further, the male left looking for the warm clothing, leaving him alone with Kai. He tried to ignore the intense stare the boy was giving him, and focused on the warmth the fire was providing him. He shivered when the wind blew a little through the open window, and he looked out outside and saw almost nothing. There were a few lights on and he could still hear the village folks talk between them, but other than that, it was a dark night. Upon realizing this, he now wonders how he even managed to get through the forest.

(And although the thought didn’t process completely, he did notice the forest was especially dark.)

It was suddenly silent. All the village folk conversations he could hear was suddenly gone and all the lights were out, and it was only then he literally saw nothing but darkness. Baekhyun stared a little more at the darkness until he felt someone tapping his shoulder lightly. He turned around to see the male from before with the warm clothes in his hands. The said male stretched out the warm clothes with a small smile as he gestured towards outside. “This always happens, you know.” He said.

The outsider furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, and he looked outside again. “What do you mean?”

“Around this time of the night, everything suddenly goes silent.” The male paused for a moment. “It’s quite nice when you get used to it actually.”

This earned him a smile from Baekhyun, who looked back at him again. “Thanks for the clothing, um…” The outsider fell short to the sentence once he realized he didn’t know his name.

“Kyungsoo.”

Baekhyun’s eyes lit up as he offered a handshake. “Kyungsoo, nice to meet you. I’m Byun Baekhyun.”

And although he was focused more on his conversation with his new friend, he could still feel the intense stare from Kai, whose gaze never once left him. They followed his every movement and he began to wonder for the one hundred times that night already what was wrong with him, and the rest of the villagers for that fact. However, the night had been long and tiresome for him so he decided to leave the thinking for another day. For now, he’ll fall asleep in the guest room of Kyungsoo’s house, and listen quietly to the pit and patter of the rain. He’ll close his heavy eyelids and listen to the now heavy downpour of the rain and rest… 


	2. 1

**Day one** in the new village so far had proved to be strangely pleasant. After his first night spending there at Kyungsoo’s house, he was treated much better by the other villagers. While Kai still gave him the weird treatment, everyone else welcomed him with open arms. He met many people that could be potential friends to him in a near future if he stayed longer. Unfortunately, he needed to get moving as soon as possible but he tried to forget about that thought for now.

There were a few things he noticed about the village though. For one thing there was that big sign right at the entrance of the forest saying  _Danger,_  and then the road to the forest was blocked by other tree ranches that made it impossible to keep going. The behavior of the people was  _too_  pleasant that it was almost suspicious. Baekhyun thought that it was just all in his head and that he was over thinking things, but whenever he was about to ask about the sign, someone always cut him off and changed the topic right away. He never persisted the topic though, and quietly listened to the other talking about nonsense that he didn’t really care about. And while he was all day in the village meeting new people, not once did he meet the chief of the village. He assumed that it was because he must be hulled up inside of his house working on papers of the village, but the lights of his house were never turned on except when it was late in the night or so he was told. Although his stay had been pleasant so far, Baekhyun couldn’t help but feel there was something much more to this village. If it was good, he wasn’t sure but there was definitely something.

During his second night, Baekhyun decided to stay up a little bit longer after Kyungsoo and Kai went to sleep. He just wanted to see for himself if the lights of the chief’s house were on after all. And although he had to wait for a long time, the lights were finally on just around the time all the other villagers were fast asleep. He wished he could see better in the dark, but all he could make out were vague shapes and figures, and then the lights of the house. It was the brightest thing out there next to the moonlight that night. Some of his suspicions ceased and he felt better knowing there was an actual chief living there, but the uneasiness never left his body.

It was during the morning that Baekhyun was sitting on the table in Kyungsoo’s house, drinking some tea his friend had made, that he brought up a conversation. “What do the people do here to work?” the outsider casually asked, not seeing any harm in the question.

Kyungsoo, on the other hand, looked a bit surprised. He had parted his lips to speak, taking a moment to collect his thoughts. “Well, there used to be a mine deep in the forest before and the people worked there.”

“What about now?”

“Not anymore.” The villager paused once more. “Now at days, the people work inside the village.”

“Oh, I guess that would explain why I never saw anyone leave.” Baekhyun shrugged with his shoulders. “I just thought it was weird.”  

To this, his friend didn’t answer at all. Kyungsoo only smiled faintly, the smile never really reaching up to his eyes.

Deciding that it was best to drop the conversation for now, he finished drinking his tea and got up to wash it clean. Once he did, he left the house and walked around a bit to see what he could do on his third day. While some people waved at him, other smiled at him and brought up some small chat. Having no choice, he put up a smile and forced some small talk. Once he finished, he quickly ran out of the sight of people and went near the entrance to the forest.

He wasn’t really planning on entering the forest. He just wanted a better look of it after all. The entrance to the forest was especially quiet and secluded from the rest of the village. From the distance he was, he could still easily make out the laughs and sounds coming from the village, but he was sure if he was deeper inside, not a thing would be heard. The trees were much bigger up close and endless ranches covered him from the sky, providing him great shade. It provided him a strange feel of tranquility and he couldn’t understand at all why it had that sign. If anything, he could easily see himself lying down in the shade and closing his eyes to listen to the soft wind blowing the leaves.

Baekhyun took one step towards the entrance and then another until he was close to the road of ranches. He looked around him to see if there was any other entrance to the forest, and when he didn’t see anything, he frowned. The outsider took a moment to think of a way to enter and when anything didn’t come to mind, he decided it was best to head back for the day. He was about to turn when he heard a soft rustle inside the forest.

It alarmed him for a moment because how could it not? Ever since the moment he stepped inside the village, the forest had been abandoned practically and so eerily still.

But now it made a sound.

He looked back again at the village and when he saw no one was paying attention to him, he inhaled inwardly and took another step back into the entrance. Baekhyun knew he shouldn’t be nowhere near close to the forest and he shouldn’t even try to be entering the forest, but he honestly didn’t see the harm of it. The villagers were obviously overreacting and being paranoid about nothing. Despite everything else he felt, his heart was beating fast against his chest and a cold sweat ran down his face. He licked his lips nervously, a habit he was never able to break, and parted his lips. “Hello? Is someone there?”

Obviously, Baekhyun was walking right into his death bed. If there was a big sign with the word  _Danger_ , it was there for a reason. As the saying goes, curiosity killed the cat… but not today.

“Baekhyun? Where are you?” Kyungsoo called out from afar, back in the village. The outsider came back to his senses when he heard Kyungsoo’s call for him. He quickly retreated his steps once more, for some reason suddenly fearful of whatever it could have been (or what could have happen to him). He ran back to the village from where he heard his friend’s voice without looking back again at the mysterious forest.

He soon saw at the distance his friend looking relieved at the sight of him. Baekhyun quickly felt better when he was near him, and all of his previous thoughts and suspicions of the forest quickly disappeared. A natural smile made its way on his face and he tilted his head curiously. “What’s wrong? Did you need me for something?”

His friend’s face brightened up a bit. “I thought you would be interested in this.” Kyungsoo said with a smile as he took Baekhyun’s hand in his, and lead him somewhere into the village.

The trip to where his friend was leading him took at least 5 minutes, and the outsider couldn’t believe his eyes. Before him was a small bookstore that looked like it had its years already, but it was still kept clean and updated with its pretty front yard full of plants and flowers. (And although he didn’t want to admit it out loud, the flowers gave it a magical touch with the way the wall plants were all over the place with its flowers. He wasn’t sure what exactly it was but it gave off that feeling. For some odd reason, it also reminded him of the forest. He definitely wasn’t going to say that out loud.)  Baekhyun eyes twinkled with interest and curiosity, and without waiting for his friend to speak up, he entered the bookstore.

The door bell ring rang, indicating that a customer had entered the store. It caught him off guard for a moment because he had been observing the store. There weren’t many books in shelves but compared to the bookstore Nuhes had, it couldn’t compare at all. Many of the books were lying on the ground in stacks, ready to be put back in their place but for some reason, they were still there. Some of the books the outsider grabbed to inspect were a bit dusty. In fact, when he blew a bit off the dust, it flew visibly and caused him to close his eyes on instinct because he didn’t want any dust getting into his eyes. It was right around then, a young man entered from the back with a small smile gracing his cheeks.

“Kyungsoo!” the young man called, surprised but pleased nevertheless. “What are you doing here? You’re never here!”

His friend laughed unamused and rolled his eyes, but Baekhyun noticed the tiny smile playing on his lips. “Very funny, Suho.” Kyungsoo mused, clearly not impressed. “I was just showing Baekhyun around. Thought it would interest him.”

The young man, Suho, turned to the outsider and smiled at him, offering a handshake. “Name is Suho. Nice to meet you.”

Baekhyun accepted the handshake with a smile. “Baekhyun.” He said curtly.

“So you’re interested in books, huh?” the young man mused, waiting to see if the outsider nodded. When he did, he continued. “What can I get you then?”

Baekhyun thought about it as he walked past the shelves, looking over the few books that were put back in place. Some of the books were big and took up space, while others were the complete opposite; thin and hardly taking up space. It was then he thought back to the mysterious forest and its  _Danger_  sign, and for some reason, he also thought back to his conversation with Kyungsoo this morning. He turned around to the others and tilted his head slightly. “Is there by any chance a book on the forest?”

Both males seemed equally surprised by the question, but it was Suho the one who composed himself quicker. “Well, I do have a book of its fairy tails…”

“Suho!” his friend looked over at the young man scandalized, his brows furrowed in what seemed to be worry. The other simply shrugged as an answer.

The outsider seemed to reconsider what he had in mind and nodded firmly. “Yeah, that works too.” Baekhyun smiled. The other males glanced at each other before giving in, thinking that it would be okay as long as he remained outside the forest.

 

▲▼▲▼▲▼

 

The next few days, Baekhyun would wake up and eat breakfast with his friend (including Kai), and visit the bookstore to read the book Suho recommended him to read. The book of fairytales, according to Suho, was a children’s book written a long time ago (he didn’t know the exact date). The writer’s pen name was kept anonymous because they didn’t want to reveal who they were. Back then, it wasn’t allowed to write freely about anything unlike now.

It wasn’t a big book like the outsider had thought it would be. It was a thin and small book that was kept well from the dust unlike others Baekhyun had seen there. The book, after all, had made an important impact on the village during its time so it was no surprise as to why it was treated better. It had an illustration of the forest on the cover that was the spinning image of it. The only two differences the illustration of the forest had were the tiny girl with her long cape and the season it took place in. It was winter. Everything was covered in snow and since it was winter, the leaves of the trees should’ve been on the ground. But they weren’t. They remained intact with the trees itself, it’s dark green with its shade of yellow and bright green and occasional blue made it seem like it was the only thing alive there, despite the girl that was there already.

What Baekhyun found even more peculiar were the stories itself. All of them involved a supernatural incident. In one story, the girl had entered into a different world completely by just stepping into the forest. However, the girl found people there just like in the village so she assumed she never left. When in reality, she did leave. She was never found again by the real villagers after that. In another story, the girl made a friend inside the forest, who had managed to convince her to follow them deeper into the forest. The girl blindly trusted her new friend and followed them into an old mine only to meet her death in the end. The last one he read that day, the girl was dared by a friend of hers to go into the forest and bring back an apple. Not wanting to seem like a chicken, she sets off into the village and many supernatural things happen. She starts to see hallucinations and hear voices coming from all sorts of directions, and she ran for her life once she saw something move towards her. As a result, she met her death when she fell into a hole and no one was around to save her from it.

And for whatever odd reason, not only was this was a children’s book, it was an important book that impacted on the village. He can somehow see where the villagers might’ve adopted their strange fear for the forest. After all, most of the stories so far he had read, ended with the girl’s death. Baekhyun still thinks it’s illogical to believe in such fairy tails blindly like that, and he believes there has to be a more scientific and logical reason for this.

With his eyebrows furrowed, he closes the book and lets out a sigh for the one hundredth time that day. He was the only one in the bookstore at the moment because Suho had to step out to do some errands. They had gotten a bit close over the past days, seeing as how he was coming over to read the book everyday. It was only natural to get to know each other a bit better.

Baekhyun got up to leave for the day, tired from all the analyzing and thinking he did. He felt his mind had turned into goo and it wouldn’t surprise him if smoke did come out his brain. With shoulders slumped, he left the bookstore and noticed that it was soon turning dark. He looked around and noticed there were still people around the village, doing their work and mingling with others. The outsider sighed and started to walk towards his temporary house, when he was pulled behind someone else’s house.

The person cornered him against the wall and he glared at whoever had trapped him like that. He wasn’t fazed at all when he saw that it was Kai the one cornering him. “What do you want, Kai?” Baekhyun spat out bitterly, visibly pissed at the other.

“Here’s the thing,” Kai started impatiently. “Your gonna tell me how the fuck you got out of the forest.”

The outsider couldn’t believe his ears. Was he still going on and on about this? Maybe Kai really was on the verge of insane…

“There’s nothing to tell except that I fell and  _huala_! Here I am!”

“Do you really think I would believe that? Nobody comes out of the forest alive.”

This caught Baekhyun’s attention and he parted his lips to ask the insane boy about it, when someone called them out. “Enough, Kai!”

Both males turned around to see who it was, and a tall man was standing before them with his gaze fixed on Kai. For the first time, the outsider notices the other had gone pale at the sight of the tall man and he wondered for a brief moment who the person was. There was silence for a long time until the tall man changed his gaze to Baekhyun’s.

“You must be Baekhyun. I’m Kris, the chief of this village.”


	3. 2

**Kris** should’ve been intimidating to Baekhyun, but he wasn’t. Instead, he was more focused on getting some answers to his questions because everyone was doing a fine job on not answering him so far. He hadn’t noticed the small crowd of villagers that surrounded them now, murmuring as always about things that aren’t of their concern.

“Great!” the outsider said, faking glee. “Someone who can finally give me answers!” The chief didn’t answer and instead, continued to look at him.

“Would you be kind as to let me know why we can’t go in to the forest?” Baekhyun asked, even though he already knew the answer.

“Let’s talk this some other day.” The chief said relaxed and rationally as he looked at both males in front of him. “You’re both tired, right?”

At that moment, a wave of tiredness washed him over and all he wanted to do was to get in his bed and sleep. He hadn’t realized how tired he was until that moment and he was a little bit pissed that it was thanks to Kris he realized it. Baekhyun sighed as he reluctantly closed his eyes in defeat and nodded. “Then rest for the night.” The chief concluded and as quick as he came, he was gone.

Kai and Baekhyun looked at each other now and although he wanted to glare back, he didn’t find the strength in him to do so. The insane boy passed him and without sparing him a glance, he said, “Don’t do anything stupid like entering the forest. You’ll regret it.” And before the outsider could realize that in a strange way, he  _was_ worrying about him, he left.

It was then all the lights were starting to go off and he knew it was time to go back inside. He walked hastily towards his friend’s house, hugging close his body because of the wind. It was rather cold that night unlike all the other days. He shivered visibly but once he saw Kyungsoo’s house, he beamed at it and practically ran for the door knob. The only thing that stopped him was his sudden urge to look back and see if there were any of the villagers outside left. Baekhyun turned around but all that he was met with was the darkness of the night. It was something he was already aware off, his friend had explained it once to him and all, but he couldn’t shake off the feeling of someone watching him.

He narrowed his eyes in suspicion and looked around just in case, but once he saw there was literally nothing or no one around, he went back in. Inside the house was warmer and he literally melted when he reached his bed. It had never felt more comfortable than at that moment, and he snuggled up close to his pillow, his eyes suddenly feeling heavier each second that passed. It didn’t take long before he was completely knocked out and he was off in dream land. Right before knocking out completely though, he heard silent footsteps outside his room and he wondered who it was. There were voices murmuring something he didn’t quite catch and he wished he could have heard better (which he probably could’ve if he wasn’t so tired), but his body betrayed him and he fell asleep like that.

When he woke up the next morning, he found Kai sitting normally in his seat with Kyungsoo serving all of them some breakfast. Everything was the same as usual except that he wasn’t greeted with a glare by Kai.  _No_ … he was actually greeting him with a small, faint smile gracing his lips. Maybe if it was a few days ago, he would’ve smiled back but it was so strange the sudden change of behavior. Baekhyun was already used to the treatment he received by him so the change was clearly made him uncomfortable.

It seemed as if Kyungsoo noticed his dislike as he poked Kai to get his attention. He smiled at him once the other paid attention to him, and Baekhyun visibly relaxed once the scene was over. “So why did the chief come last night?” Kyungsoo said, successfully catching the outsider’s attention.

The dark boy shrugged as he continued eating his breakfast. “Oh, you know. The same as usual…”

This shut up his friend immediately, his face turning solemn as he continued eating his breakfast too.

The three males continued eating their breakfast in silence until they all finished. While Baekhyun helped Kyungsoo wash the dishes, he eyed Kai as he waited for him to leave. Once he heard the door open and close again, he decided he could finally ask his friend what was bothering him. The outsider nudged Kyungsoo’s arm as he leaned in closer to him so that nobody would over hear their conversation. “What did he mean by the  _usual_?”

“Well, you know how he’s always going on about the forest?”

“Yeah, what about it?”

Kyungsoo paused before stopping what he was doing, sighing in defeat. “I really can’t tell you…”

“This again?” Baekhyun exclaimed annoyed as also stopped what he was doing. He really couldn’t understand what was so dangerous about the forest. “Look, if it’s a secret, I swear I won’t say anything about it. You can trust me.”

The friend looked at him with his large eyes, doubt written all over his face. There was a silence argument between them as they stared at each other. Baekhyun knew if he was the first to look away then that meant he wouldn’t be getting any answers. Luckily, Kyungsoo looked away from his eyes first. He breathed in and out, preparing himself for whatever that was going to happen now. “I can’t, Baekhyun, I’m sorry.”

He had just about had it with everyone blowing him off from what he wanted to know. It frustrated him to no end that he couldn’t help but stomp out of the house and ignore the worried glances he received from other villagers. He also ignored Kyungsoo’s cry after him the best he could and headed to the one place he knew he was going to receive an answer.

The forest.

It was ridiculous how just yesterday he feared for whatever that would happen to him if he stepped in. Now he thinks it was just the paranoia everyone had that rubbed on him too. Baekhyun had always been fearless since he was little. While the people in Nuhes told him not to go that far in the desert, he explored the unknown (though most of it was just sand) and discovered that there was in fact, a place far beyond he could imagine. He was the bravest boy there was in Nuhes and many people admired him for that, but nobody dared to follow his steps. Thinking back now, he pities his friends for trying to keep up with him and his little adventures. They were also scared of the unknown.

In a matter of minutes, he was already facing the  _Danger_  sign and the road to the forest remained untouched just like he had left it yesterday. The only different thing from yesterday was that he was no longer nervous about what would happen. He eyed the road of ranches carefully, noting that the way they had been placed would be impossible to walk over them or even jump over them, when he saw that there was another hidden entrance through the forest. There was a small hole inside a bush and he figured it would lead him to the other side of the forest so without stopping to think twice about his actions, he crawled inside the hole.

And then he was inside the forest.

 

▲▼▲▼▲▼

 

Kyungsoo trailed after Baekhyun, having lost him half way because a sudden flood of villagers were suddenly crowding in the shops. He silently cursed when he saw the outsider nowhere around and ran a hand through his hair. Maybe he should’ve told him after all, but he just couldn’t. Everyone had been given strict orders to not say anything at all about the forest. That’s how the tourism level was still high; because no one knew about the disturbing secrets that the forest kept. It should stay that way because it was for the best…

But it wasn’t fair to anyone or Baekhyun. He felt guilty about not telling him because they were friends and he knew how interested he was in the forest, and he tried telling himself over and over that this was for the best. Kyungsoo wasn’t sure after all how he would react to the secrets. The boy was unpredictable and he had managed to surprise everyone in the village since the moment he arrived to the village.

After not finding Baekhyun anywhere, he figured the boy would be in the library, seeing how he had been cupped up inside there for the past days. However, when he arrived there, he was greeted by no one except Suho. “Did Baekhyun come by any chance?” Kyungsoo asked, just making sure he wasn’t hiding or anything.

The young man shook his head. “Haven’t seen him since yesterday. Why?”

“Oh… I’m just looking for him. Don’t worry.” He hoped his smile was convincing enough for Suho and wouldn’t ask anything else regarding the matter. It successfully worked because Suho quickly changed topics and started to recommend him a book that he finished reading the other day.

Time passed and there was still no signs of his friend anywhere around. He was starting to get worried. Usually, Baekhyun came back by right just before the lights go off. It was already sunset which would mean in a few hours all of the lights would be gone, and by then, it’s impossible to walk around. Kyungsoo was pacing in his house, biting his bottom lip as he continued to get worried about his friend.

He wouldn’t have entered the forest, would he?

He stopped in his tracks, horrified by the thought of it and desperately tried making the thought go away.  _But it would make sense_ , he continued to torture himself. Baekhyun hadn’t been seen anywhere around the village, no one had seen him in all day and he still hasn’t gotten back home yet. Besides, knowing how stubborn and curious Baekhyun is, he probably would have thought he would get some answers from the forest itself. The possibility was high and Kyungsoo was scared that he might be right about this gut feeling. He prayed that he was wrong and it was all in his head.

It was then Kai got back home, looking exhausted and in need of sleep. This caught Kyungsoo’s attention immediately and he walked over him, brows furrowed in worry. “Are you feeling okay, Kai?” he asked genuinely worried. All of his previews thoughts were in the back of his head now.

The latter only sighed before he shook his head. “Just tired is all…”

Kyungsoo struggled to formulate his next words. “I understand that you must work, but please take care of your health. It’s not good for you.”

“I know…” Kai said, flashing him a small and faint smile that didn’t last longer than a minute. “It’s just I’ve had a lot in my mind lately is all.”

Both males were silent before Kyungsoo spoke up again. “Like what you talked about with the chief?”

“Yeah.” He sighed again tiredly. “It’s literally the same as usual. He wants me to shut up before I say anything unnecessary. Otherwise, I won’t be able to investigate at all.”

This alarmed the other. “He’s blackmailing you, Kai! You can’t let him do that to you!”

“But what else can I do?” Kai raised his voice and stepped back away from the other. His eyes were wide with emotion and if Kyungsoo knew any better, he was close to crying. “If I want to investigate my father’s case, then I need to fucking please him no matter how much I disagree with it!”

Both males went silent for a long moment before Kai continued to walk to his room. “Good night, Soo."

And at that moment, Kyungsoo really wondered if it was the right choice to hide the truth from everybody. He had long gone forgotten about his friend and little did he know, he was having problems of his own.


	4. 3

**The** only three things Baekhyun got right were one, entering the forest when it was still day time, two, not telling anyone where he was and three, his first impression of the forest was right. Sure, it would be sad if he did die and no one knew where his body was, but keeping this a secret from everyone was far better. If he had told Kyungsoo his intention of entering the forest, no doubt he wouldn’t hesitate to get someone to help him stop him. And of course, he didn’t want that.

As for his impression, it was spot on. He only took a few steps into the forest already and he already couldn’t hear anybody from the village. The only things that he could hear were his own footsteps and breathing, but apart from that, nothing. Wind blew in the forest but the trees didn’t make a sound and the leaves didn’t move along the wind. It was one of the most bizarre things Baekhyun has seen ever in his life, and he wondered how that was even possible. Logically speaking, it wasn’t possible. If it ever did occur, it was in a book or perhaps in a movie. Those types of things simply didn’t exist in life and Baekhyun was one to stick with science so he had a hard time believing it was even possible. There were also no signs of life inside the forest. It reminded him of his homeland, Nuhes, and how life around there was such a rare thing. However, comparing it to here, the chances of there being more signs of life in Nuhes seemed higher. And that itself was a lot to say. And maybe it was because he was at the start of the forest, at least he assumes so, he couldn’t see the end at all. The forest seemed endless but Baekhyun knew better than believing there was no end. He had entered the village from somewhere and he can safely assume it was the end.  

Despite all of the curious quirks, Baekhyun walked forward from where he was. The scene didn’t change much like he expected; just trees and bushes and the occasional wind. He felt at peace again, a familiar feeling he only felt when he was at home, and once again, he couldn’t understand what was so dangerous about it. The sun shone brightly on his face and it felt warm having it there, and he breathed in the earthy smell of the forest.

He figured though that it was for the best he didn’t walk any further than he did already. He had done something incredibly risky and he wasn’t about to risk it anymore. For now, he lied down on the grass and closed his eyes, enjoying the fact it was completely silent. It reminded of when night falls and he has to go back to sleep. Since coming here, he’s found sleeping so much easier than at other villages he stayed for the night, and he wonders if it’s because of the homey feeling he feels or if it’s because it’s tranquil and he feels at peace with everything. Maybe it’s both but he decided not to dwell on it too much because in the end, it doesn’t really matter.

It feels like it’s been forever since he last closed his eyes like this and just relaxed. He briefly reminds himself that it has been a while. Baekhyun used to do this sometimes back when he was a child in Nuhes, mainly when he was absolutely fed up with his family. The boy wanted some piece and quiet, and he would escape from his house and lie down in the middle of nowhere and away from everything. After many hours later, he would go back home like nothing happened.

He decided to relieve those moments. Baekhyun welcomes the sleepiness that washes over him and in a manner of seconds, he falls asleep. He fails to think about the consequences it might bring but at the moment, it didn’t matter at all. He’ll deal with them later.

Many hours later, he swears he can hear something coming from a tree near around him. The boy opened his eyes immediately, alarmed at the new sound. He looked at his surroundings and everything was certainly darker than what he remembered, and his heart started to pound hard against his chest upon the realization. It was already sunset and that means he only had a few hours to get out of the forest. Baekhyun scrambled on his feet and rubbed his pants so that they wouldn’t be dirty, and with careful steps, he begins to go back again.

Except his brain wasn’t properly functioning because he swears he hears sounds coming from where he was just at. They sounded like _footsteps_. Screw being careful, he started to run, terrified of what his ears were picking up. Baekhyun starts thinking that maybe this wasn’t such a bright idea after all because right now, he’s being chased by something. He’s not completely sure of it and neither does he wishes to know what exactly it is. All he’s sure of is that he wants to go back home, back to where Kyungsoo was instead of there. It was scary how the homey feeling he felt a few hours ago was suddenly gone in a blink, and it was now replaced by the same fear he felt yesterday when the forest made a sound.

Baekhyun knew the entrance was near and yet, he got impatient every minute that passed because  _where the fuck is it_? It was nowhere to be seen and he just kept on running straight ahead aimlessly, hoping that whatever it was that was following him was getting tired of chasing him. Unfortunately, it wasn’t. It looked like it was determined to capture Baekhyun no matter what, and that just made him more anxious already. There was still so much that he wanted to do and he wasn’t ready to die yet. At least after I solve the mystery of the forest, he prays mentally to God. Only then could I gladly die in peace…

Just about when his legs were about to give and he was beginning to trip, he finally saw the end. The lights of the village never seemed brighter than at that moment, and with one final push, he forced himself to run some more. His breath was uneven and he was sweating beads of sweat by the time he reached the entrance again, and it was only then he felt that he wasn’t being chased after. Baekhyun looked behind him and he saw a tall figure looming in the forest a few feet away from the entrance. He felt a cold shiver all over his body when the figure waved at him, and he couldn’t explain quite well what he felt at the moment. Though he was terrified for his life (a shadow was waving at him!), the strange sense of familiarity was present. His body moved on its own record and he waved back at the figure before finally entering the village again.

When Baekhyun paid attention to his surroundings, he was realized he was at the main entrance of the village. He was quick to react and hid behind a house nearby, thinking that if he were seen there, the people would cause a commotion. There couldn’t be any commotion. If there was one, he wouldn’t know what would happen anyways so he wasn’t going to risk it just in case.

He cleaned himself a bit just in case and he styled his hair. Once he was 100% sure that he was clean, he left his hiding place and headed back to Kyungsoo’s house. The few people that were still outside greeted him politely and didn’t question him at all where he had been. Baekhyun was a bit nervous about that so he felt relieved that nobody realized he wasn’t around for the day. A few minutes pass and he’s already opening the door to the house to reveal a Kyungsoo with his arms crossed. His face screamed that he was furious but it all crumbled in a matter of seconds when he hugged him tight. “I’m so glad you’re all right!” he said before pulling him out of the hug to examine him.

Although they had fought before he ran into the forest, Baekhyun smiled because his friend was worried about him. “I’m sorry I made you worry…”

“It’s okay!” Kyungsoo quickly said. “But where were you? I looked for you and you where nowhere around…”

“Oh, I was behind the house.” The outsider said quickly, remembering the pair of teenagers that he saw doing it a few days earlier. It seemed like it was a common thing to do so there shouldn’t be any suspicions about it.

But just because it wasn’t suspicious, it didn’t stop it from sounding weird. “What? What were you even doing behind the house?” the latter said, frowning in confusion.

“I was just, you know, cooling my head off.”

“Well, okay. I’ll cook you dinner now so take a bath.”

“Thank you, Kyungsoo.”

 

▲▼▲▼▲▼

 

Everything was back to normal the next morning. Baekhyun ate breakfast with Kyungsoo and Kai, and unlike yesterday, Kai ignored his existence. He still couldn’t understand his mood swings but he figures anything is better than a nice Kai. After finishing breakfast, he helps his friend with the dishes and soon heads out to the library. There was something he needed to check.

Suho was in the garden watering his plants when he noticed the boy. A beautiful smile adorned his handsome features as he stopped what he was doing for a moment. “Baekhyun!” he called out to him. “Kyungsoo was looking for you yesterday.”

“Yeah, he told me.” The outsider said, remembering yesterday’s conversation with the said male.

“Anyways, what’s up?”

“Do you have a book about supernatural stuff?” He felt another cold shiver all over his body when he remembered the figure waving at him.

The young man took a moment to think before he entered the store quietly and Baekhyun followed him inside. He passed several bookshelves, mumbling something under his breath and stopped at the very far end of the corner. Unlike the other shelves, this shelf had more books properly stacked and variety. His finger hovered over them back and forth when he stopped at the very beginning. His face brightened as he took the book out and cleaned it over before turning to Baekhyun again. “I think this might help you.” Suho said as he scrunched up his face in thought again. “If I remember correctly, the writer was also from here and as you may have guessed, anonymous.”

Once Baekhyun was left to his own devices, he inspected the book. It was a bigger book than the children’s book he read the other day. The cover was simple;  **Supernatural myths and creatures**  were written in big, black bold letters and as expected, there was no author name included. It didn’t have an illustration either. It looked like it had served its time, all beaten and used up with its yellow-brown pages sticking out of the book and aspects to it. The only reason why the book was still together and not falling to pieces was the noticeable tape on the side of the book. With that on mind, Baekhyun carefully passed the pages as he read briefly over them.

There were some illustrations on some pages and he would stop to observe it, but quickly pass them when it didn’t fit the image in his head. All of the information so far had been everything he had rejected in his life: vampires, zombies, ghouls, angels, demons… They weren’t real and the urge to critic the book was so strong, but he held himself back. He knew it wasn’t guaranteed that this store had the answers for all of his questions so his expectation weren’t high. At least, he tried to keep them low.

He stopped on his tracks when he saw a figure that was similar enough to the one he spotted yesterday. He looked over his shoulder to see if Suho was around, but when he saw the latter wasn’t around, he continued to read.

 _Spirits are everywhere around us that tend to not be seen by the human eye; only people with special abilities_ (What? Special abilities?) _can see them, or unless the spirit lets you see it. In normal cases, they mainly try to communicate with humans by vibration because it creates a specific wavelength around them. In doing so, humans are able to listen some of the noises they make, their broken language. However, in recent cases, that has not been the case at all. There have been reports that humans have been able to see them with their special abilities and disappear the next day. This term is commonly known as **spirited away.**  It is believed that the spirit could be angered and is getting its revenge but then that would be a work of a ghost._

The next paragraph proceeds talking about ghosts and next to it is an illustration of what they might look like. While the ghost was an illustration of a person that was transparent, the spirit was a bit different. It had a form of a human; its body black like darkness with long limbs and completely white eyes, but then there were other illustrations of it with different forms and colors that didn’t look at all like a human. Under the illustration there was a tiny note from the author explaining spirits differed from forms so there wasn’t an exact image to them. Baekhyun looked at the first image of the spirit, the human look alike, for a long time and then back to the figure from yesterday. It couldn’t be, right? Because there were no such things…

What did the author mean by special abilities? Baekhyun passed the pages carefully but hurriedly, reading over lines briefly to see if there was anything related to it. He passed pages by pages but he was seeing nothing that was related to it. He bit his lip, frustrated that he was almost back to Step 1. He knew that he shouldn’t feel frustrated about it because the truth was there had been remarkable progress. There was a possibility that yesterday’s figure was a spirit and apparently, there are people with special abilities. Little by little, the mysteries to the forest and to the village are unfolding and that’s the important thing.

With a slight headache, Baekhyun gets up from his seat so that he could take a rest from the analyzing and thinking he did. He was gonna return the book and head back to Kyungsoo’s house for now, thinking that he could use some tea at the moment. A tiny smile grew on his face at the thought as he placed back the book to where it was originally at when he saw a commotion forming outside. Baekhyun took small steps to the windows and peeked through it to see what the commotion was. There were too many people in the way, however, that he had no choice but to leave the book store and squeeze himself through the crowd. He wasn’t exactly the tallest person there was so instead of trying to see on his tip toes, he goes straight to the core if it.

At the core of it was a skeleton of a dead person. People all around let out surprised gasps at the disturbing sight while children cried, hugging their mother for comfort. Kris was talking to his assistant, looking grim as he continued to stare at the skeleton. At the other side of the crowd, Baekhyun could see Kai clearly holding himself back from exploding (for an unknown reason he still doesn’t know why) while Kyungsoo looked worried over Kai. Officers quickly came after and started talking to Kris, probably related to the skeleton because a few of them started to investigate it more up close with a magnifying glass. It was cloudy the moment he stepped out the store and like it was on cue, the rain started to pitter and patter lightly all over them. People quickly scurried over to their houses to protect themselves from getting wet, except for a couple of people including Baekhyun. “It was the forest, wasn’t it?” he asked so silently that it almost went unheard because of the rain.

Kris looked at the outsider, his face never changing except that it looked like he had gone over a hundred years. It was the first time Baekhyun had seen someone so tired that he almost took pity for him and dropped the subject like everyone has told him to.

But he didn’t.

“It was, wasn’t it?” he repeated his question, a little louder just in case he hadn’t heard. The chief didn’t answer, however. Instead, he continued looking at Baekhyun, his eyes almost shut because of the rain. He knew better than to have expected him to answer him so it didn’t surprise him when the silence dragged on. “You’re getting wet.” Kris stated the obvious and the outsider had to resist rolling his eyes at him. “Get inside.”

 _“But it was a sign!”_  he held himself back from saying.  _“What else would it be if it’s not that? How long will you continue hiding the truth from everyone?”_

At this age, he knew better than to share his thoughts. Baekhyun kept quiet and left back to his friend’s house. Everything was back to normal temporarily; he helped Kyungsoo make some tea for both of them, Kai interjected his snarky comments every now and then, and they made dinner for the three of them. It was already night by the time he looked over at the window and the lights were slowly going out one by one. It was still raining and it made Baekhyun reconsider his life choices for a moment.

Kai was the first to finish eating and also to go back to his room. Kyungsoo took a bit more time because he was washing the dishes when the outsider took the plates away from him. “Let me do it.” He flashed him a smile. “You look tired.”

“It’s okay, I can do it.” The latter insisted, trying to get back the plates from Baekhyun. He failed because his arms were shorter than the other.

“And I’m saying,” Baekhyun leaned closer on purpose, noting how Kyungsoo’s face flushed a bit because of the closeness. “It’s okay. Rest for today.”

Blinking a couple of times, still taken back from what happened, he nodded hesitantly. “O-O-Okay… goodnight, Baekhyun.”

Then he dashed out of there into his room.

When he finished washing the dishes and tidying up the table, Baekhyun checked to see if his friends were inside their rooms. He couldn’t hear a thing from the other side except the soft snoring and purring from his friends. He tiptoed into his room and threw some stuff into his backpack, not really paying attention to what. Once he saw it was full with a couple of stuff that would most likely be usual, he tiptoed out of his room and back to the front door. He took one last look at the house before opening the door and going into the darkness of the night.

He was going back inside the forest.


	5. 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last one for now c;

**Entering** the forest during the night was completely different from entering during the day. While during the day it was bright, tranquil and familiar, during the night it was the complete opposite. It was terribly dark inside the forest and there wasn’t anything remotely tranquil or familiar with it. Baekhyun felt like he had exposed himself to whatever it was that lied in the forest and he couldn’t calm down his heart because he knew it wasn’t safe anymore.  _He_  wasn’t safe anymore. The feeling that something would pop up at any moment wouldn’t go away and he stood at the very entrance of the forest for a whole minute, trying to calm himself down. When he couldn’t, he figured it was for the best to continue forward anyways. With his flashlight in one hand, he took careful steps and supported himself with the help of the trees with his free hand so he wouldn’t fall down. It was muddy and wet from the rain after all.

Everything looked different and Baekhyun couldn’t help but stare in awe at his surroundings. He never felt smaller than at that moment because the trees seemed to have stretched while he was gone. It was as if they could reach up to the sky and touch it with very little effort, keeping the stars all to themselves. That was another thing of the forest during the night; he couldn’t see the stars at all. The moonlight barely served him some help since it wasn’t a full moon that day. The more he kept on walking, the more he felt that maybe there was some truth in those books he read. He could easily see himself getting lost in the mystery of the forest and not in a poetic metaphor way. As in the literally getting lost in the forest itself.

So far he hadn’t run over anything or into something. The route he was taking had been flat completely with its little up and downs, but that was about it. Baekhyun knew that at some point that would change. He remembers clearly how he got into the village in the first place, by slipping on a vine and falling down from somewhere high. He wasn’t sure how he managed to survive that fall but he did, and he wasn’t about to let it repeat a second time. That’s why he was taking careful steps and making sure he doesn’t step on a wet vine again (and crossing his fingers that he doesn’t bump into the figure from yesterday so he doesn’t need to run). Maybe it wasn’t the best choice in his situation that anything could pop up at the moment, but Baekhyun took his time and paced himself. Pacing yourself is the key to everything.

Time ticks slowly in his mind and if he didn’t know any better, Baekhyun would’ve thought time kept still inside the forest. Even amongst all the heavy rain, nothing inside the forest moved an inch and instead, it seemed like it bounced off from anything it touched. Almost as if it had a shield around it, a spell protecting it from whatever that threatened it to disturb its peace and quiet. But instead of it being fascinating to him like it had earlier, it unnerved him even more the way it didn’t move that he had to make a mantra inside of his head so that he would calm down.  _It’s just one of its tiny quirks,_ he repeats to himself mentally.  _There’s nothing wrong with this forest. It’s one of the many unexplainable things in the world. Nothing strange about that._

But strange doesn’t even begin to describe it. The forest is many things, he thinks. It’s unexplainable, uncanny, unaccountable, puzzling, _freakish_ …

Thinking about what the forest is doesn’t help him at all. His heart starts racing a marathon for no reason and his breathing grows more uneven, and it’s only then that he realizes that he’s running. His two legs seem unable to stop running and Baekhyun doesn’t know why or what he’s running away from. He hadn’t heard any footsteps at all (he’s been very attentive to his surroundings) behind him, chasing him like yesterday so why is he running desperately when he knows it won’t do him any good? He realizes it’s foolish to feel fear at this point because he had already entered the forest twice and came out of it alive and yet, in the back of his mind resurfaces the scenes from the children’s book he read. How the girl foolishly enters the forest and meets her death in the most oddest of ways there is, and just maybe, Baekhyun will end up like them.

He doesn’t want that.

The darkness of the forest seems to taunt him with sneers and hysterical laughter, and Baekhyun covers his ears like a mad man (he doesn’t realize there’s nothing around him and that it’s all in his head). He tries to ignore them, he really does, but the laughter only grows louder and it seems as if more people join in with them until they are all surrounding him wherever he runs off to, pointing at him and laughing. They enjoy this. They enjoy how Baekhyun runs to his own demise with his silly thoughts and fear, and he shuts his eyes tight because he doesn’t want to see it anymore. He wishes he could mute their laughter but he can’t; there’s no mute button. The tick tock of the watch grows louder too, every time leaving an echo resonating in his ears. It all hurts so much and Baekhyun wishes he had never entered the god forsaken forest. He should’ve listened to Kris and stayed away from its mysteries…

His body was suddenly in midair, his whole view going to the sky and then feeling the impact on his back as he kept falling and falling deeper into the forest. He kept feeling ranches of trees scratching him everywhere and the leaves wouldn’t let him open his eyes. It was exactly like how it happened to him the first time only that this time, the fall felt longer and endless. Baekhyun kept his eyes shut tight and let out a scream that he was sure no one from the village would hear. It was useless to try and scream but at least he tried something. Just when he was about to give in to his self-pity and fear, he felt the hard impact all over his body. He didn’t feel the pain immediately but it was a given that he would soon start to feel it.

Baekhyun finally opened his eyes and realized that he didn’t have his flashlight anymore. He couldn’t see a thing in that darkness and he visibly gulped, thinking of how it was a pretty bad situation. He breathed in and out; he wasn’t about to give up just yet. A sudden wave of pain washed over him and he stayed still because he was pretty sure he was badly hurt and he didn’t know if he was bleeding or not. He cursed under his breath, frustrated he let the worse get the better of him. This is precisely why he needed to be careful with his steps. What’s done is done, however, and he won’t continue to mull over it anymore.

What he should be worrying about are a couple of things actually. Like for instance, one, how is he gonna protect himself from that figure, two, where is his flashlight, and three, how is he gonna walk back to the village. Clearly, he’s in a bind and he can’t do anything about it unless night decides to end soon and morning pays a visit instead,  _or_ Kyungsoo or Kai miraculously appear before him and help get back. Baekhyun was one 100% sure that the latter wasn’t going to happen even if a genie appeared and he made a wish. Some things just don’t happen and that was one of them. He laughed bitterly, his own laugh resonating throughout the forest. “Well, at least unlike those stories, I actually had a conscious. This is my own fault in the end.”

That should’ve been his ending. Baekhyun left there alone to die under the hidden stars for reasons unknown to him (probably out of blood loss but worst case scenario, the figure from yesterday ate him alive) in the somewhat peaceful and terrifying forest. It should’ve been that… but it wasn’t.

Instead, Baekhyun heard a  _laugh_.

Not like one of those in his head that were taunting and mocking him. It was more of a hearty laugh like it was actually laughing at something he said, and maybe if it was during the day or somewhere else completely, Baekhyun would’ve found that laugh welcoming. But the truth was, it wasn’t during the day and it was inside the forest, where there are literally no other living being apart from him inside the forest. Besides, the laugh was deep,  _way_  too deep for his taste, and it only made all of the hair in his body stand up in goosebumps. He stays rooted to where he was sitting at, however, his eyes wide like a deer caught in the headlights and his hands forming tiny fists just in case anything got too physical. He would probably lose if a fight happens because he sucks at it but also because he’s injured. It’s probably unlikely that would win against whatever but it’s worth a try.

He gulps nervously and looks around him, to see if he can anything. “W-Who’s there?” his voice trembled and he cursed at himself for it.

When he received no immediate answer, it reminded him of how Kris avoids his answer and he sighs, knowing it’s useless to even ask. He’s not even sure if whatever laughed is still there or if it was a fragment of his own fiction. Baekhyun suddenly shuts his eyes when he feels a light on him and he hides behind his hand, blinded temporarily. “W-What’s that? What are you doing” he asked, suddenly being able to sense a presence around him when a second ago, he couldn’t.

“You need this to see, right?” the voice asked again, catching him off guard again because he was still not used to it. On its hand was the flashlight he had lost during the fall.

He nodded hesitantly, taking the flashlight from the figure and then he flashed it to figure to see if it was like the one yesterday. Much to Baekhyun’s (pleasant) surprise, it was a human just like him with handsome features; beautiful dark brown orbs, terribly curly sandy hair, a lovely smile that was a little too big and ears that stood out more than normal. All of his previous thoughts and worries were suddenly gone, and while he wanted to form an intelligent sentence, he failed because his mouth wasn’t properly working either. He hadn’t expected it to be someone so handsome, after all. He expected it to be something like in the illustration he saw earlier that day or the figure from yesterday. (He was honestly glad it was neither of those cases.) The stranger laughed again, causing his cheeks to burn with embarrassment and to look at something else, which wasn’t much. “Are you okay?” he asked, concern written all over his face.

Baekhyun remembered his injury and flashed it to his body to see if he was bleeding. His arms were bleeding just a little from all those scratches he received earlier, and as for his legs, they looked to be okay. He folded a hem of his pants to see if they were bleeding or not, and he grimaced when he saw that he was. Thankfully, the wound wasn’t as big as he had thought it to be and all the blood it bleeded was now dry. It probably wasn’t good for his wound and he would need to disinfect it soon (fast was impossible in his current circumstances). “Uh, yeah, I think so.” He said uncertainly and looked up at the stranger again. “There wouldn’t be a village nearby here, right?”

The stranger took a moment to think before he nodded. “There is actually. Why?”

“I’m actually hurt.” He smiled sheepishly at the other as he rubbed his neck.

“Then we better get going.” The stranger smiled, hypnotizing Baekhyun again with his smile. It was mysterious the way he felt around this stranger even though it was the first time they met. He realizes briefly that he felt the same when he entered the forest yesterday; it was as if he had walked back into his home, a sense of familiarity present and a connection that was undeniable. The way the stranger gazed at him made him feel safe and warm despite the chilly air from the rain, and he found himself blindingly and naively trusting the handsome stranger. (Baekhyun fails to realize that none of this is considered normal and doesn’t question why would there be a person out here in the forest at night when it’s considered dangerous.)

He also doesn’t seem to question his actions either; the stranger was giving him a piggyback since the latter claims he’s hurt (not enough to not be able to walk though). It was just a cheap excuse to feel some warmth, to check if the stranger was real and not part of his imagination… The scenery around him is also starting to change, a misty fog surrounding them until they can’t see anything around him, but he also gives the blind eye to that. Baekhyun suddenly starts to feel sleepy, all of the exhaustion dawning on him, both mentally and physically. It’s been a long day for all of them and he thinks that maybe, it’s okay to fall asleep. After all, the stranger is there if anything happens to him…  

And with that, he falls asleep on the back of a handsome stranger with mysterious eyes that twinkle and a white smile to accompany it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wonder who the mysterious stranger is... c;
> 
> Can anyone see the resemblance in the events in this chapter? What do you think is going to happen now to Baekhyun? Is there really a village? What about Kyungsoo and the others? What will happen? Read carefully! :D 
> 
> Look forward to the next chapter! Hope it's worth the read so far :)


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